Valpo Bowlers Kick Off Play With 4-0 Day at Greater Ozark Invitational

Friday, October 23, 2009

The Valparaiso
bowling program began its inaugural season of intercollegiate play Friday at
the Greater Ozark Invitational in Springfield,
Mo., going a perfect 4-0 on the
day.

The 20th-ranked
Crusaders were in a pool Friday along with #14 Southern University, Louisiana
Tech and Stephen F. Austin. The day’s
format was five-game baker matches, which consist of five team members taking
turns bowling one frame at a time, with total pinfall after the five games
determining the winner. Each of the four
teams bowled one match against each of the other three teams, while the final
matchup of the day was determined by the standings after the first three
matches.

"I was very pleased
with our performance today, especially in how we carried ourselves and worked
as a team,” said Crusader head coach Stephen
Anthony. “For our first day, we
demonstrated a lot of team spirit and support which allowed us to play fairly
consistent all afternoon. We have
stressed picking up our spares in practice so far this season and today we did
a good job of being consistent and picking up our spares."

Valpo kicked off the day with
a 926-829 victory over Stephen F. Austin, taking advantage of games of 212 and
215 in games two and three, winning those games by 62 and 77 pins,
respectively. The Crusaders then took
down fellow nationally-ranked squad Southern by a slim 894-885 margin. Valpo trailed the Lady Jaguars by 49 pins
after two games before rallying with 33 and 38-pin victories in games three and
four.

The Crusaders followed
with a 948-926 win against Louisiana Tech, spearheaded by a 237 in game one,
Valpo’s best single-game performance of the day. Valpo was atop the standings after three
matches and earned a repeat showdown with Louisiana Tech in the day’s finale,
which the Crusaders took by an 881-801 count, thanks in large part to an 87-pin
advantage in game four. Valpo finished
the day the leader in total pinfall among the pool’s four teams, knocking down 3,649
pins over the 20 games.

Springfield was one of two pools of play on the opening day
of the Greater Ozark Invitational, as teams were also competing in a pool in
Warrensburg. Friday’s pre-seeding matches
determine the qualifying round positions for Saturday’s competition when all
the squads come together in Springfield
for the tournament’s middle day. Bowling
will commence at approximately 11:45 a.m. on Saturday.